As members of the Black community, Andre Leon Tally and Laverne Cox represent a microcosm of the ways in which we allow Black women and girls to be slaughtered both physically and mentally without pushback.

The politics of respectability in the black community may not only hinder us from acting and engaging in the constructive protest, lobbying and collective action needed to create a more just society, as it has with respect to the Ferguson protests, but it may also prevent us from simply being and living freely.

Understanding these fundamentals about Afro-textured hair will help the U.S. military, schools and employers acknowledge that natural Black hair has a morphological difference that requires different needs than other ethnic groups.

Let's be honest, many people view dreadlocks as "dreadful". I sincerely hope that change is on the horizon. Niyya Tenee, the founder of Locs Revolution, is on a mission to uplift the image of locked hair and as part of that mission she is promoting Loc Appreciation Day on June 28, 2014.

If you have the privilege of being born a black woman, it is my belief, that it is a part of your divine mission to liberate yourself from all external and internalized oppression and thereby liberate the world.